Minute 4 Mission: North Korea

The focus of this M4M is on the land of North Korea. The Korean Peninsula was the scene of a great Christian revival in the early part of the twentieth century and the Church has remained very strong and evangelical. In the South, more Koreans go overseas as missionaries than any other nation on earth. But in the North, which remained Communist after the end of the Korean War in the mid fifties, most dreadul persecution of Christians has been going on for decades.

Let me share one story from a woman who survived a North Korean prison camp. It took place in a North Korean smelting factory.

"I saw eight Christian prisoners carrying a big metal kettle holding molten iron. An officer called to them ....'Tomorrow is a cleaning-the-mind day. You will go out and tell everyone that there is no God. Otherwise you will be killed. Do you understand?' Not one of the prisons responded to the officer. He became furious and began to curse at the men...'All eight of you come here and put your face down to the ground!' They came just as he ordered. They sat on their knees and then bent their heads down. The officer called over other male prisoners...'Bring boiling liquid iron from the furnace and pour it on them!' The frightened prisoners ran to get a kettle of molten iron. They then poured the boiling iron on top of the people of God kneeling so quietly. Suddenly, the smell of burning flesh assailed my nostrils ..I looked at their shrunken bodies and wondered in my heart, What do they believe? What could be more important to them than their lives? In the years I was in prison, I saw many believers die. Yet they never, never denied the God who is in heaven ...Their unbelievable faith brought a big question into my heart. "What am I missing?"

Let us pray for the persecuted church of North Korea.
BT